Back Home Barbecue in Little Rock Could Stick Around For a While.

The new downtown barbecue joint holds promise with Texas-style brisket and a clean, bright location.

Nearly 30 Years of Classic Arkansas Barbecue at Jacksonville's Bar-B-Que Shack.

If you’re in Jacksonville and you know where the smoking cannon is, you also know how to find some pretty good classic barbecue. The Bar-B-Que Shack on the south side of town is worth your visit. 

Since 1963, Verna's Bar and Grill Still Offering Burgers, Brews, and a Cue in Little Rock.

No advertising, 21 and older only, almost no updates in decades, yet Verna's keeps a cast of regulars coming back for a beer, a good burger, and a comfortable dose of nostalgia.

Beach BBQ in Bentonville - Brississippi Unique.

In the process of researching The Arkansas Barbecue Traveler, I wandered all over the state. I spent weeks in different sections, different counties, stopping in and trying barbecue and doing my best to interview every pitmaster I met.

But I was never able to get an answer when I called and emailed Beach BBQ. The place was too busy.

Jan Simrell's Peach Pie Recipe from Ventris Trails End Resort in Garfield.

Jan Simrell has been making pies for decades, and is one of the most proficient piemakers I have ever met...

The Backyard Barbeque Company Stays the Same With New Owner.

Hometown favorites tend to stick around. In Magnolia, the neighborhood barbecue a generation grew up with has a new owner dedicated to keeping the traditions there alive.

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Dustin Cross took over the Backyard Barbeque Company in Magnolia in January of 2024. Before that, David and Susan Greer cultivated their spot along east Main Street from start-up to establishment, specializing in that Lower Arkansas style long smoked, fall-apart brisket and pork butts and ribs, along with a cooler consistently full of Miss Glenda Jones’s pies.

They spent 35 years operating out of the lowslung tan building beginning in 1989. It became a family gathering spot, and over time earned a reputation for its product and atmosphere.


Cross grew up eating at the restaurant. He already owned a truck stop and liquor store on the other side of town before taking on the established barbecue joint - but smoking meat? That was new to him. Fortunately, David Greer was happy to take on a new student.

“Yeah, he trained me,” Cross says, “I’m not a rocket surgeon.”

Cross spent a while under Greer’s tutelage before taking on the restaurant full-time. While some processes were more complicated, the smoking itself was relatively simple. Some barbecue joints across the area use different oaks in the smoker. Here, it’s all hickory.

“I mean, you can fluff it up. You can do it a lot of different ways, you know, put this in for this long and this for this…” Cross tells me, “doing what he did, it's all I'm doing. There was nothing wrong with the food. No need changing it”

The meat, large well-trimmed briskets and pork butts, goes on in the late afternoon. The next morning, 16 hours later, they’re ready to go. Time - and how much of it goes into ensuring a good product - may be the biggest challenge he has. Unlike the bustle of a truck stop, the meat demands patience. “It’s hard to get ahead here because it’s all cook to order,” he shares, with the importance of knowing what to start when and how weather and different cuts affect that timing.

But overall, the important similarity in his previous business and what he’s doing now comes down to a simple equation - whether or not he adds in anything new, it all comes down to people, both those in his employ and those who come through the front door.

It hasn’t been especially easy. Cross says there are folks who just assumed things would be different because the Greers were no longer there, that suspected the flavor would change. “I’m still fighting the new owner stigma,” he says. “If they come in here and the beans aren’t just exactly like they thought they should be, then it’s my fault.”

What will change, at least a little, is the decor. “I don’t have a whole lot of room to expand,” he shares, “but I’d like to grow it into more of a sports bar, so people might linger.” He started the process by removing booths and replacing them with long tables where groups could share space while rooting on their favorite teams. The move increases the capacity of the space without the need for opening up walls or adding on to the structure.

Still, the food stays the same. When asked what the first-time visitor should order, he says straight out, “the pies and the ribs. These ribs are the best ribs I’ve ever had, just like they’ve always been.”

And that pie case is still full, with lofty peaks on chocolate and coconut meringue pies, cream whipped onto fresh strawberry pie, rich pecan pies, smooth Key lime pies, and whatever Miss Glenda decides to make.

The Backyard Barbeque Company continues on at 1407 East Main Street in Magnolia. Order ahead at (870) 234-7890 or through the website (https://www.backyardbbqmag.com) or check out and see what’s going on there on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100025794587487).

Smokehouse Deli the Last of a Legacy.

There was a time when, dotted across the Boston Mountains and Arkansas River Valley, you’d find old weathered timber sided cabins alongside highways, offering smoked meats, pickles and jams for sale with a dining room to sample them within. The Ozark Mountain Smokehouse, with locations from Fayetteville to Little Rock, has all but evaporated. But in Russellville, a lone outpost remains.

Smokehouse Deli, renamed a few years back, continues the operation of smoking and serving ham, turkey, bologna, bacon, and cheeses, offering them for purchase as is and in a variety of sandwiches and dishes on its lunchtime menu. Paired with daily specials, soups and stews, and a mountain of desserts, it’s a quiet Russellville standard with little to no advertisement but a strong local following.

Ozark Mountain Smokehouse traces its roots back to the mid-1940s, with Roy Sharp starting the original in 1946 at the foot of Mount Kessler in what was then rural south Fayetteville. Frank Sharp oversaw that location for another generation, and a location on Dickson Street. Other spots, like an oversized one on US Highway 71 and the sprawling Little Rock location off Cantrell, all offered the cured and smoked hams, bacon, turkey, bologna, and other meats on sandwiches. Over time, they all ended up adding to their individual menus - for instance, Little Rock’s location became known for excellent breakfasts - but they all dwindled and disappeared, all except the small spot on east Main Steet in Russellville. This particular location opened in 1974.

A short while back, the eatery’s owners decided to change the name, leaning into what the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse always did best, and dubbed it Smokehouse Deli. It’s still timber-sided, though these days that timber is painted. Within, exposed wood encases the place. There are touches of the past in the furniture and the decades-old meat case at the heart of the operation. But today, there’s a drive-thru window, new cases full of pies and cakes, and an emphasis on keeping the traditions alive.

It’s worth a visit, even if you’re just picking up something to go. When choosing those take-homes, start with the smoked cheddar. It’s salty, tangy, and smoky enough to satisfy. It’s perfect on a sandwich, on crusty bread, or honestly just stacked on a Ritz. Any meat in the case will go great with it. Trust me on this.

Want a fast, no-fuss order to go? Smokehouse’s lunchboxes are your go-to. Get your sandwich (or just the meats and cheese if you don’t want the bread) with whatever topping veggies you like, choose your condiments, and pick a cookie (sugar, peanut butter, or chocolate chip) to go with. The salami, beautifully marbled and bold, is a classic choice. 

My repeat order is the chicken and havarti, loaded with smoked chicken chunks and avocado on soft ciabatta.

The Reuben here is excellent. It comes on lightly toasted rye with Thousand Island drssing, crisp sauerkraut, and juicy corned beef. It’s beautifully balanced. For a side, you can choose chips, or you can go with the potato salad, a smooth scoop studded with celery and onion.

Soups rotate, so check what’s up that day. Vegetable beef, chicken tortilla, and tomato basil are all regular options. The latter in particular is rich and brothy with real tomato pieces and enough depth to count as a meal.

Don’t ignore dessert: two display counters are usually packed with cakes, pies, and bars. The selection shifts, but lemon bars and pecan pie tend to be steady regulars, with appearances from things like German chocolate cake or pineapple fluff pie.

Whatever you choose, it’s guaranteed to invoke a sensation of nostalgia, especially when you hear the wax paper being pulled, cut, and folded around your deli selections. The Ozark Mountain Smokehouse may have passed with time, but its delicacies are still available walking through Smokehouse Deli’s door.

You’ll find Smokehouse Deli across from Kroger at 1000 East Main in Russellville. Call-in orders can be placed at (479) 968-7290. Check out the restaurant’s Facebook page, here: https://www.facebook.com/TheSmokehouseRuss/

Allison Reppond's Steady Hand Guides KT's Smokehouse in Gassville.

Walking into an established business and taking over can be a daunting task - but for Allison Reppond, it’s part of everyday life. The co-owner and manager of KT’s Smokehouse in Gassville keeps everything shipshape and moving, even when things go from “quiet to slammed in two seconds.”

The Most Affordable Lunch Plate in All of Arkansas, Found At The Dinner Bucket in New Blaine.

Love an old-fashioned country diner where breakfast comes on platters, plate lunches are dependable, and a friendly waitress keeps your coffee topped off at all times? Better plan a visit to The Dinner Bucket, a spot alongside the highway in the Arkansas River Valley that may have the state’s most affordable meals.

Prime Country Meat Market is Destination Dining.

Arkansas’s far southwestern corners are sparsely populated - handfuls of small towns within a radius of Texarkana, tucked away close to Texas on one side and either Louisiana or Oklahoma on the other. From the central part of the state, they’re often overlooked. Such as the town of Horatio, with its three blocks of downtown mere miles from the Oklahoma border. But for barbecue aficionados, it needs to go into the notebook as a must-visit, solely for a destination known as the Prime Country Meat Market.

Wrapped in Smoke: Coursey's Smoked Meats.

Generations of Arkansawyers have been pulled off US Highway 65 in St. Joe by the scent of smoke… a harbinger of good flavor present since 1945. Though the road itself has been redirected over the years, hungry patrons still find their way to the Arkansas Ozarks’ most famous smokehouse.

The Arkansas Barbecue Traveler's Travels: 3 Heethens BBQ in Monticello.

I saw the smoke rising from a trailer tucked beneath an awning next door to the Arby's in Monticello and - even though I 'd already eaten twice that morning and was ready to hit the road, I pulled into the lot. It wasn't on my list - but 3 Heethens BBQ had that barbecue moniker and that barbecue scent, so I pulled on in.

Following the Smoke: Biscuit Row in Helena-West Helena.

I tend to follow my nose when it comes to barbecue. During the summer of 2024, I spent several weeks in the Arkansas Delta. I was heading to one barbecue restaurant on the 8th of June - a restaurant that wasn't open (I'd find out later the owner was on vacation). But a sniff of the air told me there was barbecue to be found nearby.

Almost Famous BBQ Ties Cajun Spice to Arkansas Barbecue.

By the time you get to Almost Famous BBQ, you're about out of Conway and well on your way to the edges of Vilonia. The scent of hickory and cherry smoke lures drivers into the parking lot along the south side of US Highway 64, smoke often tinged with a little Cajun spice.

Ode to Rice.

It is a staple that graces the tables of young and old, wealthy and thrifty, across every demographic. Its place in our culinary history goes back two centuries, and today it puts us on the global map. It is the world's most popular grain, and we are blessed to have so many cultivated acres of it every year.

Jackson's Vanilla Wafers - Missed But Not Forgotten.

Jackson's Old Fashioned Vanilla Wafers, crispy vanilla-flavored round cookies first produced at a North Little Rock baking facility in 1933, have left store shelves.

Great Memories of Cotham's Mercantile in Scott.

Do you ever miss Cotham's Mercantile in Scott? Known for Hubcap Burgers, home cooking, and its unique location along a slough not far off the Arkansas River, this landmark is now lost to time.